Pietà

Fills now my cup, and past thought is
my fulness thereof. I harden as a stone
sets hard at its heart.
Hard that I am, I know this alone:
that thou didst grow—
— — — — — and grow,
to outgrow,
as too great pain,
my heart’s reach utterly.
Now liest thou my womb athwart,
now can I not to thee again
give birth.
Credit

This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on January 6, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.

About this Poem

“Pietà” was published in The Life of the Virgin Mary (C. Triltsch, 1922), translated by R. G. L. Barrett.